With barely a week to the commencement of political campaigns for the 2023 General elections, the National Assembly has called on political actors and the media to shun campaigns of calumny and focus on issues of socio-economic growth and development.

This was as the National Assembly vowed to resist political actors with penchant for political campaigns aimed at exploring the fault lines of ethnicity, religion and other mundane factors to further divide the country and advance their own political agenda.

President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmad Lawan stated this when he officially declared opened a high-level forum tagged “Political Communication and Issue-based campaign in the 2023 General elections” held in Abuja on Monday.

The event was organized by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies(NILDS) in collaboration with the Kukah Centre for Peace and the National Peace Committee(NPC).

Addressing the gathering, Lawan decried the dangerous, delicate and divisive manner political campaigns have taken in Nigeria in the past; a trend he said was beginning to rear its ugly head in the current dispensation especially with the advent of social media.

He enjoined political actors and the media to make their political campaigns more issue oriented and ensure they focuse on insecurity, the economics of lower rising inflation and managing Nigeria’s diversities and not the mundane issues of attacking the personalities, health status, religion and tribal affinities of opposing candidates.

Lawan said there was no way the National Assembly will allow these divisive tendencies to go unchecked.

“We cannot continue with it and allow it to go on as business as usual. Our political campaigns must begin to focus on issues and shun violence, hate speeches and other divisive tendencies”.

The President of the Senate however noted that the only way the conversation meaningful will be for stakeholders to at the end of the event reach a consensus that will produce a guideline on the appropriate slants political campaigns should take in Nigeria.

Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila shared strongly in Lawan’s sentiments when he advised those seeking elective positions in the country to do so based on their score cards and pedigree rather than engaging in sneer political campaigns that will never give room for consensus building.

The Lagos State born lawmaker noted that even though the Electoral Act, 2022 prohibited the use of places of worship and divisive campaigns; it was regrettable that some political actors have continued to breach the provisions of the law; resorting to the lowest dehumanizing tactics and abusive languages in order to sway votes for themselves at the polls.

This he said must stop even as he called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to wield the big stick on offenders.

Both Lawan and Gbajabiamila belong to the stock of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) whose choice of two Muslims as Presidential candidate and the running mate has been subject of intense political debate in a highly religious sensitive country.

The health status of the Presidential candidate of APC, Bola Ahmad Tinubu has also been a raging topic in the run up to elections.

Lawan and Gbajabiamila do not think the issue of religion or the health status of the party’s candidate should not be elevated above concrete issues of welfare, economy and security.

Earlier in his welcome address, Director General, (NILDS), Professor Abubakar Sulaiman said the conversation around issue based political campaigns ahead of elections next year has become necessary in an era of deliberate falsehood; stressing that a lack of such honest discourse have often helped to derail attention from the germaine issues of development confronting the people.

The event drew other guest speakers including Co-sponsors from the Kukah Centre, and the National Centre for Peace, Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah,
the Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council who doubles as the Presidential Candidate of Action Democratic Party(ADP ), Yabagi Sani and the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Muhammed who was ably represented.

Not for Profit Organisations, media professional bodies, broadcast stations and marketing communications firms including Suicide Is No Solution (SINS), Asido Foundation, Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN), Lagos Online Media Publishers Association (LASOMP), Spirit of Nigeria Radio, Life Radio, Jordan FM, Tall and Wide Company and Strycaz Consulting are geared for a special webinar to commemorate the 2021 World Suicide Prevention Day.

This was disclosed in a statement by Toye Arulogun, Project Director of Suicide Is No Solution, the coordinating arm of the initiative. The statement revealed that the webinar with the theme: Suicide Reporting: The Social Responsibility Imperative will hold on Friday 10th September 2021 at 6:00pm with the key objective of enlightening Nigerian media practitioners and the nation’s media space at large to the best practices of reporting this public mental issue.

According to Arulogun “ With Nigeria’s increasing and alarming rate of deaths by suicide which is ranked the highest in West Africa, 5th in Africa and 15th in the world according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), responsible media reportage of suicide incidents has become imperative. This is because studies have shown that communication plays a very important role in societal behavioural patterns and trends while media reportage on mental health and suicide cases influence behaviour negatively by contributing to contagion, or positively by encouraging help-seeking”

Speakers at the webinar are Prof. Moses Audu, Consultant Psychiatrist, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, Consultant Psychiatrist and Founder, ASIDO Foundation, Mr Odita Sunday, President, Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria, Mrs Jadesola Ajibola, Chairperson, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, Mr Folajaiye Kareem, Clinical Psychologists and Director of Interventions, ASIDO Foundation and Mr Lateef Owodunni, Publisher Gist Island News and Treasurer, Lagos Online Media Publishers Association.

The webinar is expected to redirect narratives on suicide reporting in the Nigerian media space with a view to establishing a new regime of responsible suicide reporting devoid of sensationalism, depiction or description of suicide methods or sharing content of suicide notes.

Governor Bello Mohammed Matawallen Maradun of Zamfara State has tasked Journalists to always cross check facts about the information at their disposal before going to press to avoid misleading the public.

He said as the forth estate of the realm, the media is a very important component of the democratic system that can play very vital roles in the campaign against the challenges of insecurity facing the country.

Gov. Matawalle gave the charge on Sunday at the inauguration of the newly elected Executives of the Zamfara state chapter of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, at UBEC training centre in Gusau, the state capital.

The governor who spoke through his Commissioner for information Hon Ibrahim Dosara said unless journalists whose crucial profession fetched them the position of the forth estate of the realm, stand up to the challenges posed by the emergence of social media where all comers are publishers, being used by unscrupulous politicians in the society in destroying and destabilizing the Nigerian state in achieving their selfish goals, fake news propagandists would rubbish the traditional media and professional journalism in Nigeria.

Governor Matawalle also charged members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists to always cross check the information they share with the general public to ensure publication and or broadcast of balanced, objective and reliable information that will help promote peace, security and progress of Nigeria.

Gov Matawalle who said he operates an open door policy government, assured the press of his administration’s commitment and determination to respond to any request for information about any issues requiring hos government response.

He expressed concern over the activities of fake news publishers and propagandists who have made it very difficult in dealing decisively, with recalcitrant bandits who have been unleashing mayhem on innocent lives in various localities in the state and beyond.

He regretted that such fake news carriers have inflicted injuries in the current fight against insurgency and banditry by demoralizing Nigerian troops who are fighting the bandits and insurgents, as well turned communities against governments at all levels in their reportage.

The Gov. promised to continue maintaining the good guesture between his government and the press, to allow the already existing cordial relations to grow from strength to strength.

Speaking at the occasion, the National Vice President of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, North West zone, Hajiya Halima Musa commendede the Governor for his good working relationship with the press.

The NAWOJ Zonal Vice President who described Governor Bello Matawalle as media friendly person, said unlike what has been going on in the media about insecurity in the state, the National leaders of the Association have found the state to be relatively secured, peaceful and stable.

He pledged that the Association would collaborate with the government in tackling banditry, school dropout problem and other societal challenges bedivelling the state.

She called on the members of the press to join hands with the government to serve the state, particularly in the area of security, health education, women and youths empowerment programmes of the government.

She warned journalists to shun partisanship in politics to safeguard the profession of journalism in the country.